The dog sitting adventures and daily life of Gus the Boston Terrier.

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I began dog sitting in October of 2012 and have loved every minute of it. Rover.com allows dog owners to find local, loving dog sitters as an alternative to kennel boarding, and you have the opportunity open your home to some amazing dogs!

Since summer is here, Rover is in need of dog sitters nationwide. Summer is also the best time to join because of the high demand for dog sitters since so many families travel.

You can choose to dog sit full time or part time. I’ve paid for two European vacations with my earnings, and SO CAN YOU!

Benefits of dog-sitting on Rover.com:

Set your own price per night

Choose what services you want to offer

Be selective with size of dogs you want to host

Manage your own schedule

FREE business cards to hand out to friends, family and neighbors (ask me how!)

Free tools to promote your business

Cute dogs!

I am working hard to recruit some amazing, kind, compassionate and responsible dog sitters. If you are interested or have any questions, please submit it through the box below, I am happy to help get you started!

P.S. I work for Rover and am a super active sitter, so bring on the questions!

I’ve always loved Etsy, but lately… I’ve become obsessed. So obsessed that it took me over two months to pick something to purchase with my $25 gift certificate because it had to be the RIGHT thing. In case you are wondering, I ended up with this.

Since I consider Gus my ‘fur child’ I put together a list of my 5 most favorite Valentines day gifts from Etsy. All of these dog themed gifts also happen to be VERY reasonable priced. Happy browsing!

Pick #2: Love Bug Heart Hat ($10). Does this need an explanation of why it is so cute? Didn’t think so!

Pick #3: Twinkle Hearts Dog Collar ($16.00) You are sure to get compliments if your pup sports this. Etsy has some AMAZING dog collars, and I refuse to buy them anywhere else.

Pick #4: Pumpkin Heart Shaped Dog Cookies ($10). I’m not going to lie… these look like something I’d buy for myself! I’m a big fan of fancy cookies for special occasions for Gus. His birthday is coming up and fancy cookies are surely on the list!

Pick #5: Heart ID Tag ($7.50) This tag is simple, cute and customizable to your dog’s name and phone number. Almost the same price as those you can get at major pet retailers – but 10 times cuter!

Gus recently received a new bed from his BFF Squish in San Francisco and boy – was he in for a treat! Gus got the Kalahari Lounge Bed and the moment I took it out of the box, he jumped in for a snooze.

What I love about this bed:

The fun, but modern print

It looks like a piece of furniture, NOT a dog bed

The plushness

There is a nice edge where Gus can prop his head up on for maximum snoring

The Kalahari lounge bed features a fun giraffe print and lets your dog or cat remember that they are card-carrying members of the wild kingdom too. Elevated sides are the ideal resting place for your pup’s head and create the ultimate pooch retreat. Inner cushion and exterior can be flipped, allowing you to enjoy 4 different looks in one bed!

Ultra-soft velvet material with custom-made P.L.A.Y. zipper

Furniture-grade craftsmanship and even-basting stitching ensures dog-years of use

Filled with the perfect amount and density of high-loft PlanetFill® filler

It’s been hot here in the Seattle area, and Kenzo, one of my Rover dogs was struggling with the heat. With some leftover treats, a cupcake pan and/or small bowls and water, I made a nice cool treat for the pups to enjoy.

What you will need:

Water

Dog treats, the smaller the better

Cupcake pan, or small bowls

Freezer!

Step 1:Place the treats in the pan. I tried to break them up a little bit to make them evenly spread when frozen.

Step 2: Fill the pan with water to cover the treats. Some may poke out the top, that’s ok 🙂

Step 3: Freeze. Put the pan in the freezer until fully frozen.

Step 4: Remove the tray from the freezer once frozen, let sit for about 30-60 seconds, pop the pupsicle out.

Step 5: ENJOY!! If you want to make a larger frozen treat, try using a cereal bowl or reusable lunch container.

Maggie

My very first booking through Rover.com was with Maggie, the Dachshund. As I had only watched the dogs of friends and family, she was the first dog who was completely new to me. I picked her up from her home and she rode shotgun the whole way home, immediately making her feel like my co-pilot who would warn me of any dangers along the way.

She was challenging. She hated wet grass. It rained the week I had her.

She liked to pull on the leash. She saw a bird and slipped out of her harness and ran all the way back to my front door.

By no means was she easy, but it put things into perspective for me. To be a successful, careful dog sitter I needed to take extra steps to make sure the dog was comfortable, and safe in my home. I immediately got her a new (adjustable) harness, and started taking her to areas with trees where the grass beneath was somewhat dry. Success.

As an old lady, she mainly hung out under my desk at work, and sleeping could have been considered her favorite hobby. When her stay with me was over, her family was so thrilled with the photos I sent and could really tell Maggie had a nice time. A few months later, Maggie’s owner wrote to let me know she was unable to make it out of an illness and had passed away. Such a great sadness I felt. Not only did I feel sadness for Maggie’s owner, I felt sadness myself thinking back on the bond that was formed with her, and every other Rover dog I host.

Oscar

As I took college classes with Oscar’s owner, I had seen photos of him for quite a while but had never met him until Michelle needed a dog sitter. Oscar was by far the largest dog I have hosted. A gentle giant of a Boxer he was a pleasure to have over with his dog-brother Beau. The two dogs were inseparable. On walks, they were side by side. On the couch, they were side by side. They even shared a crate. Since oscar was older, he mainly spent his time on the couch or resting. Gus grew very close to Oscar and often chose to share the same couch cushion as him. Oscar was a nice, warm cuddle buddy and Gus always loves a good snuggle.

After hearing of Oscars passing this week, it brought back the same sadness I experienced with Maggie. I thought of the special bond between Oscar and his owner and thought of how much Gus bonded with him as well.

Through dog sitting, I feel honored to be able to provide the same love and attention to dogs as they receive at home. If anything, I feel lucky that the owners choose me to share their dog with. I always form a bond with the dog no matter the challenges or frustrations I may experience and each and every dog has filled a special spot in my heart which, when their time comes, will be missed just as much as my own.

At my previous job I was not allowed to bring Gus to work, although I do admit sometimes I would sneak him under my desk. Gus was never used to being around other dogs all of the time so when I started working at Rover.com is was stimulus overload for him.

The week I started my current job, Lauren also started as the Social Media Manager. She mentioned her dog was around the same age as Gus, so I was excited for him to have a play mate. Little did I know, Gus would have a connection with Squish like a human has with their best friend. The first day Lauren brought Squish, Gus wasn’t sure about him and acted like a jerk. After about 2 hours, you couldn’t stop them from running up and down the hallway and having UFC style wrestle matches right in the middle of the office.

After that point, Gus and Squish became inseparable. They had sleepovers, shared beds at work and were almost always sleeping side to side. I’ve dog sat Squish many times, and feel as though he is one of my own. Sadly, a job opportunity presented itself to Squish’s dad in San Francisco and they moved away in February. Gus and I took the road trip down to San Francisco with Lauren and Squish (and Brando, their other dog!) and spent a few days helping them settle in. We flew back home after the weekend and Gus knew something was different. It took him a good month and a half to start playing with other dogs in the office again and he seemed to mope around my apartment. To help him out, I started taking him to the Boston Terrier meetups around the Seattle area and it really picked up his energy. No Boston is a replacement for Squish but it will do until they see each other again.

Here’s to Squish, the best dog friend a little Boston Terrier could ever have.